Wizz Air unveils Belgrade expansion


Low cost carrier Wizz Air has announced the addition of four new routes from Belgrade. The carrier will be introducing flights from the Serbian capital to Hahn, Billund, Barcelona and Vaxjo. Flights will be added progressively between December 16 and December 19. Services to Barcelona and Vaxjo in Sweden will run twice per week, while Hahn and Billund will be operated three times per week. The airline has already added five routes out of Belgrade so far this year, including Hamburg, Sandefjord, Abu Dhabi, Santorini and Heraklion, with the latter two being maintained on a seasonal summer basis. The carrier has also upped its capacity by replacing its two Airbus A320s stationed in the Serbian capital with the larger A321s.

Destination Launch date
Hahn 16.12.2021
Billund 17.12.2021
Barcelona 18.12.2021
Vaxjo 19.12.2021
Clink on link for details

Wizz Air faces no direct competition on any of its new routes, with exception to Barcelona, where it will go head-to-head against Air Serbia during the winter months, as well as Vueling over the summer. Furthermore, it will indirectly compete against both Air Serbia and Lufthansa on the Hahn service. Overall, the low cost airline plans to maintain twenty routes out of Belgrade this coming winter season, once the new destinations are added to its network in mid-December. 

Commenting on the expansion, the airline said, “Belgrade has done well for us and we try to do better for Belgrade as a result and bring new routes and more capacity to the market. Belgrade has been operational for us through the crisis and consumer uptake has been very strong. Even in very difficult circumstances, consumers have been very loyal to Wizz Air and they appreciate our service and decided to fly with us in these difficult times”. Wizz Air launched operations to Serbia in 2010 and has since become the country's largest low cost airline with a 50% market share, ahead of Ryanair and easyJet. Overall, it is the second busiest airline in the country, behind Air Serbia, with an 11% market share. In January 2020, the carrier handled its five-million passenger from the country.


Comments

  1. Anonymous12:11

    wow great news. Especially about Barcelona :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:27

      Bad for Air Serbia.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:01

      Anon 12.27, is this really necessary?!
      What are your arguments this will be bed for AirSerbia or anyone else?! It can even be good for AirSerbia as it may boost the demenad and then some will certainly go to them, right? Do you know that wizz prices are not so low and that some might still chose competition?!
      In my fling history, it has been proved many times that legacy carrier, including AirSerbia were cheaper then alternative low cost or a bit more expensive which was to compensate with much more convenient time.
      So, please stop with this bullshit "bad for (whoever)" and neke some meaningful comments!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous15:38

      Actually whenever Air Serbia gets competition they decrease their prices and even get more succesful .

      Delete
  2. Anonymous12:13

    Finally some growth from Wizz in BEG.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:13

      They added already 5 routes to BEG this year and with a total of 9. I wouldn't say they haven't been expanding.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:47

      What about Lisbon?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:14

      They have grown plenty this year in BEG. Total of 9 new routes and two A320s replaced with A321s.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous08:30

      Yet this is really bad news for Air Serbia.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous12:13

    Does it mean they will base another plane in BEG?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous12:16

    Let's see how Air Serbia performs to Barcelona now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:24

      I think they will do just fine. They cooperate a lot with tour operators.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:25

      They should have seen it coming since Wizz planned Barcelona in their cancelled expansion from last year.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:03

      It will hurt more Vueling than Air Serbia.

      Delete
    4. Nemjee19:41

      I don't think anyone will be hurt. The market to Barcelona is big enough so I am sure there will be room for everyone.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous12:21

    Why am I not surprised that Germany is again the most perspective market.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:16

      Huh? They added just one route to Germany.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous12:22

    I really hope Barcelona works out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Duck13:45

      Me too. Hope they will add Madrid also and praying for some Canary Island... :)

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21:34

      Canary Islands are a risky endeavor for any airline operating in our part of Europe, its simply too far and requires a huge timeslot, comparable to flying the Gulf.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous12:24

    20 year-round routes is a respectable network.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous12:25

    Too bad that Salzburg is not returned. Wizz started it last year but due restrictions cancelled

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:28

      They cancelled all their flights from Salzburg to ex-Yu, Tuzla and Skopje included.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:31

      I do not see why, there is a lot gastos, and also potential for tourism. Also I do not know why they do not introduce Vienna

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:36

      I guess in Vienna it is about slots. They are going after more lucrative markets.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous16:18

      Well, wherever the market is low(er) yield, they just fly to Bratislava instead. Think of it as Flughafen Wien Ost... They're actually increasing frequencies from Skopje to Bratislava this winter to 3x per week.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous17:49

      It would be great to destroy OS/JU duopoly

      Delete
    6. Anonymous18:25

      If duopoly is something you want destroyed then destroying Wizz Tuzla MONOPOLY on all scheduled routes will get you really excited!

      Delete
    7. Nemjee19:40

      If they base a third aircraft then I expect SZG will be back. Munch, Memmingen and Vienna are the closest airports with non stop flights to BEG and they are not that close.
      Munch is the closest, a two hour drive.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous21:30

      Dear Nemjee, i live in Varazdin and with car i need at least four hours to reach Munich!
      So never in any world you can drive Beograd to Munich in two hours.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous21:36

      Im pretty sure he meant driving from Salzburg, not from Belgrade.

      Delete
    10. Nemjee22:04

      That is correct Anon 21.36. I was referring to driving distance from Salzburg.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous12:34

    Where is Vaxjo?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:36

      Southern Sweden

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:43

      Is there a concretion of Serbs living there?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous18:15

      Where? In Google?

      Delete
    4. hahahaahahahha!!!

      Delete
  10. Anonymous12:38

    Billund Is a little bit surprise, since already flying to Malmö, and Hamburg is relatively close

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:47

      And they are going to be flying 3x per week. Odd

      Delete
  11. Anonymous12:39

    Excellent news for Belgrade.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous12:40

    Why no Lisbon :(( they announced it last year and then cancelled. The route has so much potential.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:44

      Maybe next summer.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:40

      I guess it's due to Portugal being very restrictive about the entry requirements. I wouldn't be surprised if they announced more destinations, but only for the next summer.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous12:41

    Let's just hope they actually launch these and not cancel the expansion. They have a reputation of doing that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:00

      As well COVID19 played a major role in these cancellations, you would be surprised....

      Delete
  14. Anonymous12:43

    That's 10 new LCC routes this year from BEG. 9 by Wizz and 1 by Eurowings. Not bad for an airport with a good LCC presence already.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:59

      Good, especially in a year impacted by corona and travel restrictions.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous12:49

    Barcelona is at the biggest risk if we get some travel restrictions

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:58

      I don't think Spain will be changing its entry policy. In fact, it is least likely out of all the EU members.

      Delete
    2. Nemjee19:36

      I don't think there will be a lot to worry about. Cyprus placed Serbia on its red list from today but the island is still fully open to the vaccinated passengers. If Spain changes something then I am sure they will implement the same model.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous12:57

    Gasto routes

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:00

      BCN gasto route?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:03

      Barcelona isn't a gasto route.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:05

      Except Barcelona, yes

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:10

      And?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous13:13

      Why does it matter if it's gasto or not? It serves a particular market.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous12:58

    Good luck to them

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous13:00

    just in time for Christmas :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous13:01

    Wizz Air just doesnt know how to pick the right routes out of Belgrade... This expansion will end in failure just as their prevous announcements. I mean, Billund and Vaxjo!? What were they thinking about? Serbia barely has diaspora in Denmark and its concentrated in Copenhagen. They plan to fly to BLL 3 times pw the same as to MMX. Good luck with that. Vaxjo also doesnt have that much diaspora to sustain these flights. GOT barely has 2 weekly flights and its one of their weakest routes for some time already. Hahn is a typical gasto route but they will have a lot of competition from Lufthansa and JU. They should have opted for Cologne which is unserved and has massive potential. BCN will come down to who is the cheapest and with their fares and luggage policy people will know doubt choose Air Serbia or Vueling which has improved their departure hours.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:12

      People will choose Air Serbia to Barcelona which has similar luggage policy and is double the price? Don't think so.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:12

      Also I wouldn't say their expansions have been failures considering they are flying to 20 cities.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:13

      When Wizz doesn't add new routes: They haven't expanded in so long! They are stagnating in BEG, we need new flights!!!

      When Wizz adds new routes: What are these gasto flights?! They don't know how to pick the right routes!!

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:21

      20 cities isnt that much considering how long they are present on the Serbian market. Look at Tirana and Sarajevo for example. They are much newer bases but have similar or even more routes. And its not about gasto routes. Its about the fact that they open diaspora destinations that have minimal potentional and end up closing them within a year.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous13:34

      What destinations do you suggest? If even diaspora destinations have minimal potential nowadays, which destinations can actually have potential?

      Delete
    6. Anonymous14:12

      @Anonymous 13:21
      Yes, it is much enough. Unlike SKP, SJJ, TIA, TZL, ZAG, ZAD... in BEG none of LCCs does not enjoy any incentive scheme, so there is no massive flights to wherever...

      On the other hand, what is the problem if some or all routes from any airport is gasto routes? Look at PRN! Do they complain about "10" flights to ZRH a day?

      Delete
  20. Anonymous13:16

    good mix of destinations

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous13:17

    More than unreasonable. What kind of success do they predict? Borders of EU will be closed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:34

      Wow why are you worrying so much? Are you paying for these flights?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:43

      Most EU borders are partially closed but flights still operate. For example, there are 3 airlines flying between Oslo and Belgrade despite Norway officially having the strictest entry policy for third countries in all of Europe. It is followed by Poland.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous13:47

    Didn't expect BEG-VXO. It seems that they are entering Plovdiv for the very first time and compete with FR on the London route. Interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous13:47

    With what planes?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:53

      They have 2 A321s in BEG and they will probably base a third aircraft since all these new routes seem to be operated by A320.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:22

      Wizz fleet is a mess. They are wetleasing planes from others or cancelling routes all over the place. Many complaints on social media about bad experience from Wizz. Consumers are not loyal as Wizz is saying. Many travelling to London or Paris switched from Wizz to Air France or Air Serbia as Wizz prices are similar but to distant airports. Don't expect some of those announced routes to materialize.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:43

      Not here to defend Wizz, but I'd rather have my flight operated by a wet-lease company, than being canceled. They had to wet-lease 10 aircraft for that reason, and that doesn't come cheap.

      Delete
  24. Anonymous14:52

    This is fantastic news

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:07

      Not so much for JU though. :D

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:50

      JU will be fine

      Delete
    3. Anonymous18:31

      Air Serbia has nice codeshare with Air Europa out of Barcelona to Madrid and Palma de Mallorca. Wizz doesn't even have transfers to own flights LOL.

      Delete
    4. Nemjee19:35

      Well both airlines manage to coexist on BEG-LCA. Even though I am happy JU survived on this market, I am equally happy that Wizz Air is sticking around.
      W6 really brought down the average fare. Before Wizz Air entered this market, JU used to charge €340 for a return fare! Now you can fly with JU for as little as €120.


      Lower fares have stimulated demand which in its own turn enabled for the market to grow and expand.

      Delete
  25. Anonymous15:01

    Tickets are already in system

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous15:42

    These are good ones .
    But i hope others like Charleroi, Friedrichshafen, Cologne and Lisbon resume next summer too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:13

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous16:45

      I think we'll see another round of expansion next summer.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous17:46

      Fingers crossed

      Delete
  27. Anonymous15:45

    They will also launch HAM-BNX.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:12

      ^ Yes, on the 17th of december .
      Fantastic !

      Delete
  28. Anonymous16:55

    Interesting that BEG-HHN will leave he same time as JU's and LH's morning FRA.

    Bring it on Wizz Air!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Anonymous17:43

    What about Vizer in Kraljevo? KVO-MMX, KVO-CRL, KVO-FMM??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:46

      Not until the runway expansion project is completed. A320 can't land there.

      Delete
    2. Yes it can. Like in Cluj-Napoca, runaway is just 2040m and Wizz is in a regular operations. Or Florence with just 1560m runaway, there is landing 319.
      KVO have a 2265m runaway. So, it's just about AirSerbia subs by taxpayers. End of story.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous19:48

      Stvar je nosivosti piste a ne duzine i sirine

      Delete
  30. Anonymous18:51

    I still feel Lisbon, Turku, Kutaisi & Krakow (once Polish restrictions ease up) amongst others would be good picks for Wizz Air.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous19:12

      Kutaisi?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21:34

      Yep, Wizz flies there already from a number of airports & Serbia is missing a Caucasus connection. AirSerbia is clearly nowhere near opening Tbilisi so it could be a great alternative.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous22:22

      From a number of diaspora destinations that is.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:46

      Wizz is not able to operate flights to NON-EU countries from NON-EU contries.

      Delete
  31. Nemjee19:32

    Makes me wonder if they will bring a third plane to BEG, an A320, with which they will launch these routes and then in a few months from today announce more destinations that will operate from summer 2022.
    All the routes they announced today either have modest demand or competition so using a smaller plane makes sense. Who knows, since Heraklion and Santorini proved to be successes maybe next year we will see them introduce destinations such as Athens, Rhodes and so on.

    This is definitely a message to JU and others that Wizz Air isn't backing down from BEG. Hopefully Air Serbia and others respond to this.

    Btw it's interesting that Hahn is just 118 km from Luxembourg. Hopefully this route does not affect Luxair ... though from what I've see they are not cheap.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous21:24

      Wizzair does not care about Air Serbia and they even did not care much about Belgrade.
      But they care about Ryanair and if they dont be more assertive in Belgrade in shortest of time Ryanair will take Belgrade from them in front of their eyes .

      Delete
    2. Nemjee22:12

      I think Wizz Air is the kind of airline that cares about every kind of competitor, both strong and weak. They might not be afraid of JU but I am certain they notice what they do and they pay close attention to where they are expanding to.

      I think BEG does pretty well for them despite having so much competition. Naturally as long as they are keeping BEG management satisfied they will not go looking to make a deal with FR.
      Wizz Air might not like JU but I am sure they are happy they have them to deal with in BEG rather than FR. I think Ryanair knows that the market is too crowded in Belgrade right now. On top of that, foreign airlines keep on adding more and more flights meaning airport management isn't too desperate to strike a deal with FR.

      Air Serbia is making BEG happy. Wizz Air is making BEG happy. Foreign carriers are making BEG happy ... so FR doesn't have a good bargaining positions ... at least not right now.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous23:17

      You touched a very important point i think.
      Belgrade airport management is happy if they dont have to give subsidies to airlines.
      Wizzair and Ryanair will get no cent and thats good!
      Still if Belgrade gets crowded it will get even more so in some years .
      I pity the greedy Ryanair which has to have a base at the much smaller Zagreb while Belgrade is whiggling its booty straight next door ..

      Delete
    4. Anonymous23:30

      Well, BEG gives subsidies in the form of discount based on total volume of pax by a given airline plus for transfer pax. Their tariff is online, so everybody can check.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous02:26

      But a discount is not a subsidy ..

      Delete
    6. Nemjee08:07

      I also heard that BEG provides discounts for newly launched routes and I am sure Wizz Air got them for these ones, just like I am sure Luxair got them as well. This is a normal practice all over the world. I remember some years ago, Oslo was trying to attract cargo flights so they were offering no charges for the first 3 years!

      I don't think any airport in the world is happy to give discounts. However they do it because they have to as was the case with FR in ZAG or with W6/FR in BUD after MA.

      Personally, I think BEG's offer isn't all that bad. Sure it could be better but what matters is that things are slowly improving. We have JFK which has survived and developed quite nicely, we have JU expanding into places no LCC could due to low O&D demand (KRR, ROV, FLR before covid and so on), they also have a good regional network which helps. Also many airlines from the region have a decent presence at BEG (Tarom, Aegean, Turkish Airlines, Pegasus and almost LOT from BUD). There is no JU protectionism from BEG so airlines from the EU keep on expanding as we've seen with KLM and Luxair this year.

      I think 2022 will be even better and I expect another round of expansion from Wizz Air. Hopefully JU expands its fleet so that they could keep up with their competition.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous08:18

      If Wizz adds the destinations they intended to launch last year their presence in the Belgrade market will be secured whatever may come.
      And discount is money you earn back after some years while a subsidy is burnt money that is lost forever.
      So there is nothing bad with discounts!

      Delete
    8. Nemjee08:43

      Indeed, discounts exist everywhere and they are a regular practice. I guess now we just have to sit and wait for Wizz Air's next move and how others will respond to that.

      I am curious to see if LH will react in any way to their HHN flights. Maybe we finally get a third daily from FRA even if it is on a CRJ.

      I doubt JU will respond to this.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous09:08

      No ASL protectionism, Nemjee?? What is your explanation blocking the Russian carriers and Turkish Airlines a couple of years ago? Please, save us your continuous, non-biased theories and oh, LCA is the centre of the universe.

      Delete
    10. Nemjee09:36

      Hey Anon 09.08, I actually started to miss you and your hysteria! :)

      If you bothered to read my comment more carefully then you would see that I wrote that there is no protectionism from BEG. Russian and Turkish carriers were not blocked by BEG (code for Belgrade airport) but rather by the Serbian civil aviation directorate, that is a government institution. There is a clear difference between the two.

      In simpler terms, BEG, that is the airport, is not protecting JU in any way and they are actually continuously working on bringing new business even if it creates additional competition for their biggest customer - Air Serbia.

      Do you see the difference between the two or do you want me to put it in even simpler terms?

      Cyprus is a pretty cool place, you should definitely check it out... leave your basement once in a while. :)

      Delete
  32. Anonymous23:57

    From the 4 new destinations, only 1 of them is primary sadly and no LIS, TLV or PRG for instance. Hahn, Billund and the Swedish village of Vaxjo are definitely gasto routes although I have my doubts about Barcelona as well as it home to a large and growing Slavic diaspora especially from Ukraine. But yeah, obviously there is more gasto demand, no problem.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous00:08

      Tel Aviv can't be operated by a non-Serbian or non-Israeli registered airline. I don't see what Ukrainian diaspora in Barcelona has to do with their Barcelona-Belgrade route.

      Delete
    2. Nemjee08:10

      Why are people obsessed with gasto routes? Airlines fly where people want to go. Simple as that. Wizz Air flies to several non-gasto routes such as Larnaca, Santorini and Heraklion. I suppose Malta qualifies as a gasto route at this point.

      Don't forget that a vast majority of Serbs goes on holidays via tour operators. Until that changes don't expect many scheduled flights to holiday destinations.

      That said, I think Wizz Air can try its luck on BEG-LJU. I think there is enough demand to fill a two weekly flight, maybe even three in summer.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:04

      Larnaca non-gasto? Lol what joke is that?

      Delete
    4. Nemjee09:40

      Hey again Anon 09.04! Do you mind expanding on what you wrote, you know add one or two arguments to back what you wrote. I think that would be pretty cool and a nice change from what we usually read from you on this portal.

      FYI there are around 700 Serbs left in Cyprus meaning the market size alone is not enough to warrant so many flights. Right now you have 8 weekly and a vast majority of people flying between the two airports are tourists and transfers.

      Delete
  33. What about flight Belgrade-Prague???

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nemjee08:11

      It could be either Wizz Air or Eurowings. JU is crazy expensive on this route so some real competition would be more than welcome.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:49

      Wizz cloesd it's PRG base due to the high cost, so I doubt they would launch new destinations that aren't lucrative.

      Delete
  34. Anonymous11:03

    How many times did they announce to add a 3rd aircraft to BEG? Two, three? Itt might as well happen some day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:42

      From what I know only once until now.

      Delete
  35. hopefully they will add route Frankfurt-Belgrade anytime soon also....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous07:52

      They won't, they suspended flights from FRA once discounts expired. Hahn is as good as it gets.

      Delete

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